the reunion - year 45

So way back in 1970 - when Phil was 15 years old he did something that "changed his life" - he went for six weeks to Europe to study German in Salzburg, Austria. While there - he and his fellow students from St. Louis, MO met many others from all across the U.S. in the same study abroad program.  They became such close friends that they stayed in touch with all the cutting edge technology of the day... cassette tapes sent from group to group, letters- handwritten and sent via the US Post Office (they may not have even been USPS back then) and very expensive and short long distance telephone calls.... yes -that was the way it was done waaaay back in 1970...

After two years they met in Austin MN for a reunion at the wedding of one of the group's members. Of course at the same time they were all headed off to one university/college or another and their lives went on whatever path became theirs alone.  A nice memory of a wonderful summer to be nurtured and treasured for a lifetime.

and then....

The advent of the Internet gave them a second chance to recapture those friendships and give new vitality to the memories of (what would ultimately be 36) years ago.  They started finding each other and "talking" about a reunion of the group- which eventually took place in 2008 in Maine- when a fair number of the "old gang" got together to catch up on the passage of almost four decades in their lives.  And as is the case with true friends- it was as if no time had passed at all and they just picked up as if their last conversation had been 36 days ago instead of 36 years ago.

They vowed to do it again- and yet lives interrupted and so the next reunion wasn't in a year but in two years in 2010 ... this time in Minnesota.

They vowed to do it again - to not lose touch the way they had for all those years- but alas..schedules got in the way- some were becoming grandparents and some had kids in college... obligations of work and family kept the promise unfulfilled.

Several attempts were made to get the group together again over the intervening years but divorces and graduations and unfortunately (as they aged) illness got in the way... but yesterday a small group had a mini reunion - 45 years after they met.  Four "students"  and their spouses had a picnic and afternoon at Fort DeSoto just off St Pete Beach, Florida.  By the winter of 2015 one of the original group had relocated to Tampa; one wintered in Bradenton/Sarasota area; another rented for a month in Belleaire Beach; and another came for a winter vacation to the area.

The day was relaxing, a snack picnic of cheeses, pates, olives, veggie and sweets along with a bottle of summer wine made up the fare.  The beach, the fort, the pier nearby became the scene of catching up with the last five years. Dinner at a nearby restaurant gave the sense of completion to the day together.

So by now I am sure those of you who follow the blog- are waiting for the photos- because there are always photos-

and here they are-

the students- two guys in red and the two ladies in the front to the left of the photo- the spouses included the photographer (not shown LOL)

here are some photos of the locale for the picnic- first the group on the beach-

where we were- (see red circle and yellow star)

some historical photos of the Fort and surrounding area-

so perhaps the next get-together (at this point maybe they shouldn't be called reunions) will happen before five more years pass- none of these folks are getting any younger - but then again who is?  So 45 years later - I can attest they still just pick up - as if no time had passed... catching up and looking forward... using the past as a foundation for their friendships but not living in the past.

Doesn't get much better than that!

ten years

of waiting and our friends Mark & Laura finally got tickets to Bayreuth for the Wagner opera festival.  Mark is the opera buff but even Laura raved about how wonderful it was... and that reminded me of the time Jennifer and I took a vacation to the Bregenz Festspiele (HA who knows how to spell that one??? LOL)

we first went to Salzburg and had a couple of lovely days there- we stayed in this really cute hotel that looked like an over  sized Swiss chalet- out in the country but very near a bus line to Salzburg - then we picked up a car and drove around the area- seeing among other things - the salt mine - a scenic route through the Alps and the Konigsee in Bavaria near Berchtesgaden. 

then we went on through Austria to Bregenz on Lake Constance which is also known as the Bodensee.  it sits on the border of Switzerland, Germany and Austria.  the festspiele was wonderful - they have three parts - an opera on the lake (in our case Il Trovatore) an opera in the opera house (Philip Glass' House of Usher) and a concert on the lake (Vienna Philharmonic). 

it was all great and in the meantime we got to explore the area- which is surrounded by mountains.  after the festspiele we left Bregenz and headed to Liechtenstein to celebrate their bicentennial.  from there we went to Innsbruck for a couple of nights - dropping off the car right away.

after a couple of days there we head south by train to Venice... as that was the deal- I would go to Salzburg and let Jennifer practice her German if we could include time in Venice.  it was a really good trip that I hadn't thought about in a while until we saw Mark and Laura on Saturday night and got the run down on their opera based trip...

and here are some photos to illustrate the fun times we had... first Salzburg- everything Mozart- from bridge to eggshells!

then on to Bregenz- through the mountains on the Grossglockner high alpine route

even in the wilderness they provide "facilities" LOL

the opera set during the performance (this was a photo of the poster)

the opera set during the day- a photo taken by me- did I mention they some of the performers arrived on the scene - on stage - in a Mercedes convertible - LOL- it was a BIG BIG stage! during the Anvil Chorus the glass wall was up and that is where the hoi polloi pounded their "hammers" - but during most of the opera the glass wall was down and much of the action took place up in the scaffolds and cat walks... quite exciting staging!

a view from above town, down on to Lake Constance- the opera stage is the red thing jutting into the lake between the cables for the funicular/tram

we took an afternoon boat trip on the Bodensee...

then onward- to the bicentennial of Liechtenstein- and the castle above Vaduz

then Innsbruck - where I bought a new pair of sunglasses LOL

the sign was for the shop- LOL- these were not the pair I bought... mine were more sized for my head/face... and did not clip onto my nose LOL

then on to Venice - La Serenissima!

gondolas!

the doges palace!

San Marco!

the Rialto!

let's leave today- Venice- incomparable - the sound of footsteps on bridges- for centuries...

and a few more fun photos - gondoliers on the Grand Canal

the cafe scene early in the morning before everyone takes their perch

and finally- everyone takes photos and some are more anxious to get that early morning shot than others- LOL- this guy couldn't even wait until he was dressed- LOL

all in all a pretty perfect trip!  but then most of them are overall- the only exception I can think of is Ireland- LOL - see the ha ha ha post of last December 24th ....

more later!